 |
Microchips To Be Implanted In UK Convicts
RFID-based microchips will soon be used to tag prisoners, according to a Ministry of Justice official in the United Kingdom.
(VeriChip RFID tag for human implantation)
I'm assuming that they want to use something like the VeriChip, which is a very small Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag about the size of a large grain of rice. It can be injected directly into the body; a special coating on the glass case of the chip helps it to bond with living tissue and stay in place. A special RFID reader broadcasts a signal, and the antenna in the VeriChip draws power from the reader and sends its data. The VeriChip is a passive RFID tag; since it does not require a battery, it has a virtually unlimited life span.
Officials want to use the technology to reduce overcrowding in prisons. The tagged prisoners would be released and then tracked.
The UK already makes use of ankle bracelets and other "tethering" technologies, but wants to go high-tech with implanted devices. According to a high-ranking minister:
"We have wanted to take advantage of this technology for several years, because it seems a sensible solution to the problems we are facing in this area."We have looked at it and gone back to it and worried about the practicalities and the ethics, but when you look at the challenges facing the criminal justice system, it's time has come."
I kind of liked the comment made by Shami Chakrabarti, director of a UK civil rights group, who said "If the Home Office doesn't understand why implanting a chip in someone is worse than an ankle bracelet, they don't need a human-rights lawyer; they need a common-sense bypass."
Wondering what they will think of next, now that it's easy to tag people? Here are a few examples:
- Baja Beach Club Implants Verichip in Customers
- VeriChip RFID Tag Patient Implant Badges Now FDA Approved
- US Company Implants Chips in Workers
- RFID Tags Proposed to Halt Blackmarket Cadaver Trade
- VeriChip Chairman Proposes RFID Chips For Immigrants
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 1/14/2008)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion (Back On) ( 0 )
Index of related articles:
What is RFID?
How RFID Works
How is RFID used inside a living body?
What can RFID be used for?
Is RFID Technology Secure and Private?
Are There Concerns About How RFID Will Be Used? (Update)
Next-Generation Uses of RFID?
What Are Zombie RFID Tags?
RFID Information Technology Articles
Problems With RFID
Advantages of RFID Versus Barcodes
RFID Glossary
Contactless Credit Card Advantages
Contactless Credit Card Disadvantages
Related News Stories - (" Surveillance ")
Smartphone Sensor System Tracks Gunfire
'Sound trackers on the roof could zero in on weapons action...'-Greg Bear, 2007.
SHEPHERD-MIL, A Birdlike Soaring UAV
'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'- Philip E. High, 1968.
AXON Flex And Stross' Cop Specs
'Arriving on SOC... Start evidence log." [E]verything you see on duty goes into the black box.'- Charles Stross, 2007.
India Opts For Nationwide Iris Scanning
'The road you're on, John Anderton, is the one less traveled...'- Steven Spielberg, 2002.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Current News
MIT Robot Cheetah Video Shows Gait Transition
'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'
TrackingPoint Smart Rifle
Not your typical 'smart bullet' approach.
'Hello, Computer!' Google Now Highlighted at IO13
'Hello, computer!'
Sky City's 220 Stories Are Go
'It rested among green parklands and... stood in total isolation, a glittering block of whites and flashing windows dotted with colors.'
CARMAT Bioprosthetic Total Human Heart Replacement
'George Walt's corporate existence proved the workability of wholly mechanical organs...'
Personal Sniffer Robots
'...The ticking combinations of the olfactory system of the hound.'
Physical Exam? We've Got Apps
See the future of handheld, personal medical devices.
The Interplanetary Internet, Vint Cerf Speaking
'This was the center of Interplanetary Communications.'
Drosophila Robotica, The Mechanical Fly
'... the Scarab [flying robot] buzzed into the great workroom as any intruding insect might...'
Robo-Raven Flapping Wing Robot Bird
'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'
Japan's Nursing Home Robot Plan
Let's make the Roujin Z-0001 Robotic Bed!
Samsung Smart TVs With Gesture Control
'He waved his hand and the circuit switched abruptly.'
Swiss HCPVT Giant Photovoltaic 'Flower'
'...leaning against one of the slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector.'
Mini-Livers Made By 3D Printer
Organleggers may experience an employment downturn.
Smartphone Sensor System Tracks Gunfire
'Sound trackers on the roof could zero in on weapons action...'
Bacteria Now Make Biofuel Like Oil
'They have ... germs that eat pretty near anything, and produce oil as a waste product.'
